GunBarrel Gauntlet: The Last Bronze II

12. Friend or Foe?

12. Friend or Foe?

As turbulent skies began to glow in the predawn haze, the Nomad and his rescued passenger were skimming over the landscape on the stunt bike he had used to launched over the cage walls to escape Dogtown. Shielding her face from the high speed draft against the Nomad's jacket, Liu held onto his waist with both arms and peered back toward the direction they had come from. Kicked into the wind by the spin of many tyres, a squadron of machines in the distance was chasing them in swift pursuit.

Releasing a free hand to tap the Nomad's shoulder in warning of the encroaching danger, Liu pointed back and tried to raise her voice over the whipping wind. The sight of the Dog Soldiers was enough for the Helmet covered rider to understand their predicament, swivelling his head back into the rushing draft to continue steering the light frame cycle over the flat barrens revealed to the light of a rising sun.

In the seconds he had spent looking back over his shoulder, it was obvious to the Nomad that one of the dust trails was rapidly gaining on them ahead of the pack. In his many years fighting off the barbarians of the wastelands he had never seen a machine move so quickly, and the fear was beginning to burn in the pit of his stomach. Today might be the day he was finally caught, and there would be no second chances... no mercy...

* * *

Holding onto the handle-grips with teeth-biting effort, the Irishman fought to control the Enforcer Special as it bucked and dragged both himself and Socky across the empty wilderness. With only a pair of sunglasses and Chocky the puppet tied over his lower visage as a mask against the rushing air, he had been able to stay ahead of the swarm of Dog Soldiers that had been building up, witnessing the same dust storm of their wake the nomad had seen whenever he dared to check the rear view mirrors atop the handlebars.

Socky had guided him southward by tugging on his ears whenever he drifted off course, but now with the coming aura of dawn he could see other vehicles moving ahead of them, a thin trail from a motorcycle and something else, a large mass that was churning up the dirt as though it was leaning heavy on its right side.

"Caught between the Devil and a dirt brown Sea" He mused silently.

* * *

"How many?" Carrion asked as she drove the rig toward the rising ochre stain drifting on the north horizon

Leaning out the passenger window, Weary tried to count the wall of vehicles as he panned the rifle scope lens, the image bouncing with the rhythm of the truck.

"More than ten... alotta bikes. They ain't friendly, that's for sure."

The crosshairs came to focus on a modified trike with a lattice canopy over the driver, a second occupant standing behind it with a swivel mounted harpoon that looked like a scorpion's tail. From its vanguard position he guessed it to be the leader of the marauders. Shifting his attention onto the dust trails between themselves and the approaching armada, he studied the two motorcycles and deduced that they were fleeing from the Scorpion and its savage crew.

"Wait a moment... it's Liu! She's heading our way with a biker. They're in trouble, they're not fast enough... hang on! Looks like Socky, he's riding with someone else on a police bike, tryin' to catch up with them."

"To hurt them?" Carrion asked.

"Nah... both bikes are tryin' to get away from the raiders. They're gunna need our help."